5 weeks down – 1 to go!
We weren’t expecting to ride
today, but when we woke up this morning, Nate had blown through, rain had been
dropped from the forecast, and there was a 20+mph tailwind beckoning us. So we
rode. And it was a great ride.
The original plan was 60 miles
from Gulfport, MS to Bayou La Batre, AL, but we covered an additional 15 miles from
tomorrow’s route so we could stay on Dauphin Island, “America’s Birdiest
Coastal Town”. The placement of and message on that welcome sign was ironic since
we’d just passed a huge, dead pelican on the bridge. Sounds like they have a few
to spare.
Leaving Gulfport this morning,
you could hardly tell a hurricane had blown through just hours ahead of us but,
as we pedaled east, the damage was more evident. We navigated waterlogged
roads, shoulders littered with debris, intersections without functioning
traffic signals, and an increased number of frogs and snakes. We also navigated
what my dad and I both, separately, concluded was a dead platypus (though, based
on subsequent research, it sounds like they only live in Australia, so probably
not).
Last night I realized that
Peter Jones, a good friend from work, was just up the road in Mobile for the
weekend, so this evening he, his wife, and his son came to hang out with us on
Dauphin Island. It was the first “plans” we’ve had in 35 days and it was such a
fun evening catching up over an ad hoc picnic of wine, cheese, and Oreos and watching
the sunset on the beach.
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| Nate's wake in Gulfport |
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| America's Birdiest Coastal Town |
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| Sunset on Dauphin Island |
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